The present invention relates to an electrical connector having, in addition to a signal contact, a ground plate for electrically connecting the ground in the manner known in the art.
Such a connector is usable, for example, in a liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor known in the art. The LCD monitor is provided with a circuit board on which a connector is mounted. The connector of the type is disclosed as a receptacle connector in, for example, JP-A 2001-203047.
The receptacle connector comprises a thin insulator, plural conductive signal contacts aligned in and held by the insulator, and a conductive ground plate held by the insulator to face the signal contacts. The ground plate has a part press-fitted into a holding hole made in the insulator. In the receptacle connector, each of the signal contacts and the ground plate serve as a spring member for generating contact force known in the art.
When the receptacle connector is connected to a connecting object, namely, a plug connector, the ground plate is elastically bent in a thickness direction of the insulator with an edge portion of the holding hole serving as a fulcrum for the ground plate. In this event, it is assumed that the ground plate causes the holding hole be enlarged in its radial direction. This results in decreasing the contact force relative to a predetermined value thereof.